Identifier: birdsofbible00stra (find matches)
Title: Birds of the Bible
Year: 1909 (1900s)
Authors: Stratton-Porter, Gene, 1863-1924
Subjects: Nature in the Bible
Publisher: Cincinnati, Jennings and Graham New York, Eaton and Mains
Contributing Library: Internet Archive
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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The ostrich of the wilderness. So there must have existed, even in the beginning of time, among the earliest people, this idea that it was a cruel thing for the ostrich to leave her nest to the mercies of natives, beasts, and sun incubation. Neither do I believe the old story that the mother birds laid some of the eggs on the outside of the nest, so that the young would find food ready when they hatched. Like all other birds, the young would emerge provided with nourishment for the first day, and afterward this family is able to follow their elders stoutly, and pick up bits of food shown them. I think the truth was that in a communal nest several females often desired to deposit an egg at the same time, and as they could not all have the nest, those outside crowded as closely as possible, and laid on the sand. What else could they have done? And her labors were not altogether in vain. There were so many eggs in a nest that half of them could be lost and the birds still flourish. The ostrich lives
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VU K OSIK I C II 271 oil, wluii all other ori-nt hirds of its size tli;it ustd to stalktlu i-arth are extinct. it was (juite true that she seeiiudwithout fear, for she was fovuid near the ed<;es ofthe desert and on spots of oases, living in j)erfect accordwith herds of zebra, antilope, oiraffe, and other animalsthat fed on ve<;etal)le diit. I scarcely think any one hadseen her exhibit nuic-li fondness for jackals, wolves, leop-ards, bears, or ti^-frs. Because (kkI h;itli dejirived her of wisdom,Neither hath lie imparted to her understandintj. There are several thino-s to wliich this in;iy refer. Tlicbird may not have had the wisdom of the raven, but shedid very well. She is still numerous in her haiuits. Sum-ming up all tlu thin<4s that threaten her and lur youno-,she is in luck to be alive and reproduce herself. I thinkshe was wise when she placed her eggs as nearly in thenest as she could, if she could not get them inside. Pos-sibly human egg hunters would be satisfied with

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